Beats and Harmonies
by Sophia's-Obsessions
Summary: Dave Strider is a DJ at his brother's club. When he sees amateur punk-rock band, Earthbound perform, Dave quickly develops a crush on the lead singer. As they continue to run into each other and their relationships develops, Dave is falling harder and harder for Karkat, all the while, Karkat is cursing his worsening luck.
1. Where Dave Has Relationship Issues

**Chapter One**

Heavy beats vibrated through Dave's body and across the warehouse like building, echoing off of the walls and the bodies that attempted to move to its rhythm. The feeling was bliss. There was a reason Dave fought so hard for this job. This was his dream. To stand above the crowd, playing and mixing music that could get people moving. To be surrounded by the heavy atmosphere that was near suffocating, a mix of sweat, flirts, alcohol and a rhythm that was both catchy melody and deep bass that shook your bones. When Dave was up at the soundboard, the whole world fell away and he was in his own little heaven. He had control. This was something he was good at, something he had earned. This was his and his alone. Something his brother could be proud of.

Unfortunately, on this night, it wasn't to last. Like, every third Friday of the month, Dave's shift at the soundboard was cut short at seven o'clock to give way to live performances on the stage at the other side of the room.

As the last note faded on the current track, Dave felt the usual twinge of disappointment as he stopped the next track from playing. With a small sigh, he moved his headphones down so they hung around his neck and switched the soundboard to control the mics and sound system on stage. He sat back in his chair for a moment until the next sound guy, an older man named Harvey that he had never talked to enough to get anything beyond his name, came in. Unplugging the head-set from the board, he shoved the end in his jean pocket with his hand.

Leaving the booth he headed down to the bar and took a seat on the stool. It was his normal position with the best view of the stage, just after the sound booth of course. Turning to face the stage, Dave was surprised by what he saw.

While they had gotten trolls in to perform before, especially in the last year or two with the second wave of refugees hit, an all troll band was something Dave had only seen a couple times before. It was more common to have bands as mostly human with one or two trolls. It was generally more successful as it played on the idea of unity between humans and trolls that society was slowly trying to achieve.

Interest piqued, Dave sat up a little straighter, wondering what their sound was like. Based on the way they were dressed, he could only assume that it was some sort of punk or heavier style. Not exactly Dave's thing, but if that troll mic with short horns and a grim expression was part of it, Dave might just be a little more into it.

Dave watched with interest as the trolls set up the stage. A tall girl with long hair and glasses set up at the bass, a shorter girl with angled red shades set up on lead guitar, tuning it before adjusting the microphone stand to her own height. On drums was a male troll with a pair of horns on each side of his head, and a rather cute troll with short horns that vaguely resembled cat ears and stuck out of a mess of short hair plugged in her keyboard. And just as Dave had expected, or rather, hoped, the short troll with the grim face set up at the lead mic, snapping something at the troll with the red glasses as he lowered the stand.

Within a matter of minutes, and after a brief sound test, the lead singer stepped up to the microphone and took it into his hand. "Hello humans and fellow trolls. We are Earthbound and we hope you like our shit."

Dave couldn't help but snort slightly at that. "Great opening dude," he muttered to himself, trying to decide whether he was amused or embarrassed.

When the music started, it was with a blast, a strong chord on the electric guitar and followed by some steady bass and and accent of piano. This intro alone was enough to get the crowd energized, something Dave could relate to and appreciate. After several seconds of this, the drums finally entered and with a crash of the cymbals, the sour faced troll began to sing.

Despite his speaking voice being a little high and rough, the troll's singing voice was surprisingly clear with just enough of that roughness to add character and make his voice distinct. He also proved to have a nice range and with some training he might even be able to get rid of that nervous warble that showed itself whenever he went to high or held a note too long.

As the first song died out, they left a space for applause before starting their next song in a much more gentle manner with a steady beat on the bass drum, a gentle rhythm on the bass guitar by the troll girl with long hair, both easily accompanying the melody played by the small female troll on the piano.

This went on for long enough that Dave was beginning to wonder if there was going to be any singing in this song at all. Much to his surprise, when the vocals finally did come in, it was the girl in red sunglasses that started to sing.

She had a very distinct voice, just like her bandmate, one that was definitely feminine but could easily pass for male if she so desired. There was a little more passion in the way she sang, in contrast to the almost angry way the male sang. Also in contrast to her bandmate was the way she smiled. Dave didn't think he had seen the other even do so once. It was to the point that Dave was wondering if he was enjoying himself at all.

After a couple verses, the male joined in and together they created a beautifully rough harmony that balanced the his anger and her passion.

The song soon ended and moments later their final song started with a slow build into a long note from the lead singer into a fast rhythm and the two females on guitars as back up vocals.

When they finally finished, Dave found himself applauding just as hard as the rest of the building. He wasn't really into the style but he had to admit that they were good. Of course that was to say they were still very amateur. Some rhythms were a bit off, some notes too long and some harmonies out of tune, but all in all, they weren't too bad for a band that was clearly just starting out. They obviously had potential.

It was the red shaded girl that spoke this time. "Again, we are Earthbound. Please look us up and download our music! Thank you and have a good night!"

Dave was impressed by the lack of cussing this time, but from the look of things, he was starting to guess that that might just be the lead singer's thing.

They quickly filed off the stage and allowed the next band to set up, a mostly human band with a troll as their drummer.

Dave tried to listen as intently as he had to Earthbound, but they just didn't catch his interest as much and he found his eyes watching the area where the band would come out from the back stage area. That's if they decided to stick around and not just leave out the back door. He wanted to know if they were coming back to perform again.

Forcing himself to turn away from the stage, a little annoyed with himself for being suddenly so obsessed and infatuated. And Dave knew it wasn't the band. No, it was that damn lead singer. Dave refused to believe that he had already developed a crush this deep for the boy and decided to finally order a drink to help him do so.

"Yo, D-man, finally up for a little rad party time?" the bartender asked.

"Nah, just a rum and coke will do, nothing too strong tonight Latula."

"Bo-ring. What's the occasion?" the troll asked.

"I gotta back to work in an hour Tuls."

"So?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

Dave rolled his eyes behind his shades. "Just get me the drink Tuls."

"I'm gonna have to see some ID," she replied with a smirk.

"Fuck off," he said, waving her away. She turned to mix his drink, laughing as she did so.

She turned back around a minute later and slid him the drink on a coaster.

"So what are you thinking tonight?"

"'Bout the bands?" Dave asked.

"Mmmhm," she replied with a smirk.

Dave knew what she was clearly hinting at but he refused to play into it. "Thought the first one was pretty good, this one that's up now could be better, they're too much in the shadow of all the popular artists to be pulling off what they were trying to do."

Latula raised an eyebrow but Dave pretended he didn't notice, turning back to face the stage, drink in hand as he leaned against the bar.

But as was the Latula way, she refused to go unnoticed.

"Just good huh?" she asked, implication heavy in her voice as she leaned over the counter next to Dave, folding her arms under her chest. "Don't lie to me Strider. I know how much you like punk to be that enraptured in Earthbound. I'm not blind, I saw you oggling that lead singer."

Dave snorted into his drink and turned to set it on the coaster. He turned back to face his friend, giving her a pointed look. "Striders. Do not. Oggle," he hissed, punctuating each word.

"Whoa dude. Alright then." Latula stood up straight again, raising her arms in surrender. "But you were so totally checking that dude out! And from the looks of it as he was leaving the stage, he has a real nice ass."

"Shut up Tuls. So I appreciated their music and their aesthetic. So what?"

"Soooo, you should go back and talk to them before they sneak out the back and you never get to see them again!"

Dave snorted again. "What is with you? I don't even know the guy's name. I'm not gonna go chasing after him like some lost princess. He has no fucking clue who I am and this is nowhere near 'love at first sight', not that that exists anyways. If I happen to see him again, cool enough, but I'm not going to chase after him as if I believed we were some sort of soulmates in another life."

"Well you might get the chance to talk to him now," Latula replied.

Dave turned around a little more quickly than he cared to admit and watched as the five trolls filed out from behind the stage, the lead singer bringing up the rear.

"I gotta get back up to the sound booth," he said quickly as the troll headed towards the bar with his red-shaded friend.

"But D-Strides," Latula whined, huffing as Dave swiftly left the bar and headed back for the sound booth without even finishing his drink. "Way to play it cool, Cool Kid," she muttered, taking his drink and dumping it down the sink before washing the glass.

Dave closed the door to the sound booth behind him and let out a breath. Harvey gave him a quick and questioning glance but Dave chose to ignore it. He let out a small groan that earned another glance from Harvey. Why the fuck did he do that? He had never met the troll. He was supposed to be the Cool Kid. He was supposed to play it cool. He ALWAYS played it cool, so why was he running away and hiding in the sound booth like some 12 year old with a middle school crush?

He debated going out there, but surely the troll saw him and if he left and went back to the bar now, he would just look like a fool. His whole goal in life was to look the opposite of that so there was no way he was going back out there now.

He was just so stupid! Yeah, the singer was cute, but that was it, nothing more. Who cared if Dave wanted to know why he didn't smile on stage, what had him always looking so grim, that he had a voice that sent an electricity through his body. None of that mattered, it was completely irrelevant and it-

 _Knock. Knock._

Dave looked up, thoughts interrupted as the door swung open and a girl about Dave's age, with short blonde hair cut in an a-line and a purple headband that he didn't think he had ever seen her without, stepped into the room and shut the door politely behind her.

Rose Lalonde, as well as her older sister Roxy, had been close friends of Dave and his brother since before Dave was even born. Rose was, in all senses of the term, aside from blood and legality, Dave's sister.

"There you are," she said with a small huff. She seemed slightly baffled for a moment that Dave was sitting on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest like some shy school girl, but the look quickly passed as Dave stood. "Latula said this is where you would be, thank god she was right. Dirk is looking for you."

"Yeah? What for?" he asked.

Rose shrugged. "He didn't really say, just said to find you and send you up to his office."

"Yeah, alright, I'll head up there now," he answered, giving Harvey a wave before stepping out of the booth behind Rose and clicking the door shut behind himself.

"So what did you think of that first band? Earthbound," Dave asked as casually as possible as they walked down the stairs.

"I didn't think they were too bad, obviously new, but great potential." Rose glanced at Dave from the corner of her eye. "Why?"

He gave her an odd look in an attempt to be surprised. "Who says there has to be a reason? I was just asking your opinion on the band is all."

Rose gave a rather exasperated sigh. "There is always a reason with you Dave Strider so don't give me that nonsense, just spill."

Dave shrugged and shoved his hands deep into his front pockets. "I don't know, I just thought they were pretty good and I was wondering what you thought."

Rose stared at him for a minute as they paused at the bottom of the stairs before gasping. "Oh my god, you have a crush on the lead singer!"

He shot her a look and this time the shock was genuine. "I never said that!"

"You don't have to Mr. Strider, I can read you like an open children's book. I know you and I know your type and you always take after those that are just as psychologically tortured as you are. And from what I can that troll boy is right up your alley."

"God Rose, we're 21, you think you would quit with all that psychological shit by now." Dave rolled his eyes, his tone light to indicate that the words weren't as harsh as they may have seemed to anyone else.

"It's my major, Dave. It's never going to stop."

Dave let out a groan. "Fine, so what if I have a crush on the cute troll with the oddly sexy voice, not like it's gonna go anywhere."

"Not if you don't talk to him. Key to any good relationship Dave, communication."

"But I'll never see him after tonight."

"Who says that? You don't know that. You don't know who he is, where he's from, and there's nothing wrong with a long distance relationship. Skype was invented for a reason."

Dave groaned and leaned against the stair railing, taking off his shades momentarily to rub at his eyes before slipping them back on. "You and Latula both. What is with you guys?"

"Dave. This is the first person you've shown even the barest amount of interest in since John and that was almost four years ago. Honestly, it's a bit pathetic."

"Yeah, well, what about you? Haven't seen you dating lately either," he snapped back. He didn't mean to get so defensive but his relationship issues wasn't exactly the best subject to pick with him.

Rose seemed unfazed. "It's only been a year since I broke up with Aradia, and that lasted almost 2 years. Your relationship with John barely lasted 3 months and while I have at least been looking for potential suitors, you've been locking yourself away in that booth and pretending that romance doesn't exist."

Dave glared at her through his darkened glasses, his mouth set in a firm line. God he fucking hated it when she was right. The worst part was that she almost always was.

"I have to go see Dirk," he stated, shrugging off the railing and heading over the the stairs that led up to his brother's office.

"Avoidance is not a suitable method of coping Dave!" Rose called over the crowd as the band started up their next song.

Dave pretended not to hear but once again, she was right. He was avoiding, and what they both knew was that he was going to continue to do it until something changed that prompted him to do otherwise.

Pushing through the crowd, Dave headed to a separate set of stairs that led up to a plain wooden door with a plaque that read 'Dirk Strider' in gold embossed letters. Dave thought it was rather pretentious, especially for a guy like Dirk, but the older Strider had explained that it maintained a level of professionalism, that it made people take him more seriously or something like that. Dave honestly didn't care what he said, he still liked better the half torn notebook paper with Dirk's name written in orange highlighter with quick and sloppy scrawl, a small 'owner/manager' penciled in underneath as an after-thought that used to be duct taped to the door.

Dave knocked on the door and waited for his brother's call before entering.

The office was small and slightly cluttered, with a desk that faced the window that looked out over the club. You could see almost everything from that window. The sound booth to the right where Harvey was still working the board, the stage where the second band was just finishing up it's final song, and even the bar to the left where Latula was happily chatting up the people she was serving. The whole building was aglow with dancing bodies and neon lights a scene so familiar to Dave he barely spared it a second glance.

"What's up, Rose said you needed me?" he asked, frowning at his older brother who was currently sifting through a desk drawer in a rather frustrated manner.

"I lost my phone," he said.

"Dude again? That's the fourth time this month and the second time this week. How do you keep losing it like this?"

"Shut up, I didn't ask for your opinion kid, just call it would you?" Dirk huffed.

"Yeah, yeah, fine, fine," Dave grumbled, pulling his phone out of his pocket and quickly dialing Dirk's number from his contacts.

"Why didn't you just have Rose call it instead of having her relay the message to me? It would have been a hell of a lot easier."

"She was busy," Dirk stated.

"But not too busy to come find me. It would have taken less time for her too-" He was cut off by a muffled yet easily recognizable 'Barbie Girl' playing from the jacket hanging on the back of Dirk's chair.

"Fuck. I checked there too!"

"Seriously Bro, change the fucking song," Dave said, hanging up as Dirk pulled the phone from his pocket.

"No way, not gonna happen."

"I'm not kidding. That shit is so fucking dated, both the song and the joke. Change it."

"Nah man, it's a fucking classic and it's ironic. It's staying," Dirk responded with a smile.

"I'll change it for you then."

"Like you could ever get ahold of my phone, I always beat you when we were younger and I could do it even now."

"Sure you could old man," Dave answered. "All I have to do is wait until you lose it again though, so I'll probably have it by tomorrow."

"Low blow dude."

"You bring this on yourself."

"Get out of here."

"Gladly."

Dave was grinning as he closed the door behind him, sliding his phone back into his pocket after checking the time.

He still had just over half an hour before going back on shift. With one last band to perform and nothing better to do, he slid his hands back into his pockets and headed back up to the sound booth. It had the best view anyways, nevermind that he spent more time watching the troll with stubby horns at the bar than he did the band on stage.

Dave loved his job, but even with the hour and a half break for the live performances, the lunch/dinner break and the occasional bathroom run, playing from five in the afternoon to about two or three in the morning, depending on the day and the crowd, it got exhausting.

Today was a 2am closing time as most of the crowd had left about 1. There were still a few stragglers, mostly hanging around the bar as Dave pulled up a stool and ordered a screwdriver. Only when Latula gave him knowing smirk did his tired mind catch up and he realize that he was sitting on the very seat directly next to the very troll he had been spending most of his time not-watching all night.

"Shit," Dave cursed quietly under his breath, causing Latula to chuckle, but the troll next to him to not even flinch, apparently not hearing. God, Dave was way too tired for this.

Things only got better as the troll turned towards Dave.

"Are you the DJ?" he asked.

"Who's asking."

"I was just wondering if you really actually called that music that you play up there."

Dave snorted, the little fucker. "I could say the same for you," he said easily.

Latula leaned against against the bar, a grin on her face that clearly showed how much entertainment she was getting out of the situation. Only then did Dave realize that she had been talking to the troll for the past several hours and knew that something like this was bound to happen. She was _waiting_ for it.

"Karkat, meet Dave. Dave, meet Karkat," she said giddily.

Karkat looked him over, a small disgusted look on his face. "Dave? What a boringly lame ass generic human name," he stated.

Dave huffed, taken aback. Two in the morning was definitely not the time to be dealing with this shit.

"Excuse me? What crawled into your pants, twisted them into a bunch and then died? Dave is an awesome name. I'm afraid I can't say the same for you. Karkat? What are you, a fucking candy bar?"

"That's a kitkat as far as you're concerned, you ignorant douchnozzle."

"Whoa, look at us, getting all fancy with the insults."

"Latula, another please, I'm gonna need at least five more if I'm stuck talking to this piece of numbnuts over here."

Latula laughed. "Sorry there Karkles, gonna have to cut you off here," she said, placing another glass of dark liquid in front of him. "Music stops the bar closes, that's the rules."

Karkat huffed. "Fine, here's money for my tab. I won't be seeing you around _Dave_." He pushed up from the bar and door had just swung shut behind him when Dirk came up and ruffled Dave's hair.

"Ready to go kid?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Night, Latula." Dave stood and gave his friend a wave.

"Night D-Strides, see you tomorrow."

Dirk tossed her the keys and she caught them easily. "Don't lose them."

She grinned. "Never do."

Dave left the club with his brother, stepping out into the crisp, cold night, dark, but glowing orange with the neon sign above their head and the nearby lamp lights. The chill around them was a welcomed relief from the stifling atmosphere of the club.

As they walked to his brother's car, Dave Strider was acutely aware of two things. One, Karkat, the lead singer of ameteur punk-rock band, Earthbound, was an asshole. Two, this very same troll was still painfully and frustratingly the most attractive guy Dave Strider had seen in years.


	2. Where Karkat Curses His Terrible Luck

"I think it went really well last night! Don't you think Karkitty?" Nepeta asked, as chipper as ever.

Karkat only gave a grunt in response, his forehead resting against the table, arms wrapped around his head to block out any scrap of light that dared to even exist. His head was throbbing, he was exhausted and he felt sick.

After drinking long after his bandmates had gone home the night before, the troll had all intentions of sleeping the day away and waiting out his hangover, but Nepeta would not have it. Bounding into his room with no attempt to be quiet, she jumped onto his bed as chipper as ever and any chance of ignoring her was ruined when she tore away the blankets and screamed that embarrassing nickname in a loud and sing-song voice. Why on earth her moirail wasn't containing her as he should have been was a different question entirely. Instead, Karkat was forced to comply to her demands to 'get up sleepyhead!' and restrain every urge he had to not shove her across the room. That did not stop a long stream of curses from flying from his lips as he took out his frustration with a hard cover book sailing across the room towards Terezi and Vriska with who were standing with amused smugness in the doorway.

"About time you got up," Sollux stated once Karkat was finally decent enough to leave his room. The troll with his odd red and blue glasses, was making himself at home in Karkat's kitchen, munching on a bagel and drinking a glass of orange juice from the fridge. Human food was… odd, to say the least, some trolls, didn't like it so much, but others, such as Sollux and Karkat, didn't think it tasted to bad and it was easier to obtain than anything that was smuggled from Alternia or made to accommodate them.

"Shut it asshole," Karkat grumbled and opened the fridge, only to instantly regret the decision and close it again with a small groan and a 'fuck'.

Sollux finished off the orange juice and put the cup in the sink before pushing the last bite of bagel into his mouth and brushing the crumbs from his hands as he chewed.

"Ready to go then?" he asked.

"Wait. Going? Did you just come here to fuck with me and leave?" Karkat asked.

"Of course not Karkles, not completely," Terezi said, swinging an arm around his shoulders. "Nepeta said we should go out for a celebratory late-lunch and we all agreed and since you weren't answering your phone, we decided to come and get you."

"Oh fuck _no._ There is no way I'm leaving this house! I am way too hungover to even possibly consider- Vriska put me the fuck down!"

"Sol, grab his shoes," Vriska said, completely unfazed as Karkat flailed on her shoulder as she held him there with one arm, the other on her hip.

Halfway to the car, Karkat gave up struggling and shoved mercilessly between Nepeta and Sollux with no chance of escape, he rode the whole way to the diner in miserable silence.

Any attempt to protest getting out of the car was ignored or put to silence by Vriska's glare and a few minutes later he found himself sitting in a booth, once again trapped between Nepeta and Sollux while Vriska slouched slightly in her seat next to Terezi on the other side of the table, her long legs stretched out beneath it.

"It really was awesome. Think we'll get more gigs?" Terezi asked.

Vriska shrugged. "Maybe, Strides was surprisingly popular, maybe we got lucky and some hot shot was there and liked our anything, the crowd seemed to like us so maybe we'll get to go back."

"I hope so! It was really fun!" said Nepeta.

"I'll have to agree with cat-girl on this one. It was a pretty neat plathe. Definitely one of the better platheth we've performed tho far," Sollux stated.

Nepeta made a face. "Certainly better than Club 69."

"Hey, they paid us good money," Karkat grumbled into the table.

"We're not going back," Vriska said firmly. Karkat could feel her glare with no need to look up.

"Fuck no, that place could burn to the ground for all I care," retorted Karkat. "That was the last time I had a wet human condom thrown at me." He shuddered. The memory still gave him nightmares sometimes.

"Karkat's nightmare fuel aside, we need to figure out where we're gonna perform next. We have the gig at Night Diva next tuesday, but after that we nothing. We gotta keep playing if we're going to get noticed. We might even have to start looking outside of town," Vriska said with a frown.

"Can't we talk about this tomorrow? Like, when the fucking sound of the sun doesn't make me want to claw out my think pan and the smell of existence doesn't make me want to turn my whole fucking body inside out," Karkat groaned.

"Stop being so dramatic Karkles. We're here so we'll discuss it," Terezi said firmly.

"I fucking hate you all."

"We're aware," Vriska said casually. "So, Karkat and I are heading to the city over tomorrow after practice, who wants to come with?" she asked, looking around the table.

Karkat finally sat up, a little faster than he probably should have but that didn't stop the acidity of the glare he shot at Vriska.

"What?! Oh fuck no! You are not volunteering me for shit without asking first!"

Vriska shrugged. "Too late, already said you were going."

"What if I'm busy tomorrow after practice?" He asked, his loud voice causing heads to turn. Nobody at his table seemed to notice.

"You're not," Vriska said simply, looking Karkat straight in the eye.

Karkat opened his mouth but then realized that he had no argument and closed it again, slumping back into his seat.

"So, I repeat the question, who wants to come with?" Vriska asked, doing nothing to hide her satisfaction.

"Can't. Meeting with Fef and Er tomorrow," Sollux stated, pulling out his phone to reply to a text.

Karkat looked at Nepeta almost hopefully.

In return, the cat-like troll blushed slightly and gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but Equius promised we could do a picnic tomorrow afternoon." Her tone was as apologetic as her smile but it did little to hide the excitement.

Karkat turned to look at Terezi. At this point he was desperate. He may have counted Vriska as a friend. But it was only barely and there was no fucking way on this planet that he was going to be trapped with her for God knew how long to go look at potential places to perform.

Terezi shrugged. "Fine, I can go. Don't have much to do tomorrow anyways."

Karkat let out a huff of relief and relaxed back into his seat. "Thank fucking God," he mumbled, but still loud enough for everyone to hear and promptly ignore.

"So it's settled then," Vriska said, hitting her fist against the table enough to rattle the ice in their water glasses. "Tomorrow, Terezi, Karkat and I will head over and scout out more performance spaces. Keep this up, we will get our name out there guys, I guarantee it."

"Double cheese burger with a side of sweet potato fries?"

Sollux raised his hand and the waitress placed his order down in front of him before calling out the rest and handing them to the girls. The smell alone was enough to make Karkat feel even sicker than he already did and he was glad he had chosen to not order anything.

They continued on with normal conversation and banter as Karkat put his head back down on the table.

"Can I go home now?" he groaned, not having the energy to lift his head and look at anyone.

Vriska gave a heavy and dramatic sigh. "Fine. We'll take the grub home. You brought this on yourself you know."

Karkat didn't respond as he followed them to the register to pay their bills before all filing back into Vriska's car.

After being dropped off back at his doorstep, Karkat wasted no time in darkening his room as much as possible and crawling back into bed. As he pulled the layer of blankets up and over his head, he only partially dreaded the trip the following day.

Practice went much as it usually did. Sollux spent too much time on his phone, Nepeta constantly getting distracted either by something in the room or by the keyboard itself, often playing her own little melodies that had nothing to do with the music they were working on. Karkat got into no less than three fights with Vriska about various band and music related topics and Terezi joined in either to fuel the argument or break it up, depending on her mood at the moment.

All in all, it was about as successful of a practice as they could have hoped for or expected and after two hours, with only perhaps one of them actually being devoted to anything remotely productive, they packed up their equipment and while Nepeta and Sollux headed out to their respective appointments, Terezi, Vriska and Karkat all headed to Vriska's car.

Terezi called shotgun, forcing Karkat into the backseat. He didn't bother arguing, knowing there was no point.

It was at least a forty minute drive to the nearest city and when Vriska turned on the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack at a high volume it was going to be some of the longest forty minutes of his life.

After a few minutes, the music was turned back down and Karkat was pulled from his thoughts that were absolutely in no fucking way on the DJ from the club.

"Hey Terezi, did you ever get to meet the DJ from Strides the other night?" Vriska asked.

"No, was he cute?"

"Seemed your type, gave off those cool kid vibes, wore those human aviator shades. Only got to see him, never got to talk to him, but you might want to check him out. You might like him."

Terezi grinned. "Totally, should we go back next week? I would love to give his face a lick. I bet he's deliscious."

"Personal space Terezi, after being here for two years you should have fucking learned that you can't just go up and lick people, blind or not," Karkat said from the backseat.

"Don't be so rude Karkat," Terezi replied, turning around to look between the seats at him.

"Aside from that, you wouldn't like him. He's a huge asshole."

"Ohhhh, did you get to meet him? When? What was he like?"

"I already told you, he's a fucking asshole with a rotting thinkpan. I met him just as the place was closing after our performance."

"So you like him then," Vriska said, Karkat could tell she was smirking without even seeing her face. "Looks like you might have some competition on your hands, Terezi."

"I don't like him and there is no competition. You can have him for all I fucking care! It's not like you've met him anyways!"

"Let's be honest Karkles, this is how they all start out," Terezi stated.

"How what starts out?" he questioned.

"Your flushed romances and crushes."

"They do not!"

"There was me, that human girl that used to live next door to you, the troll that used to work at the diner… the-"

"Fine! I get it! You're right! Fuck! You don't have to go listing off all my failed red romances!"

"Oh, someone's a little touchy. What else was there Terezi?" Vriska prompted.

"The troll boy that works at the music store, the human boy from the…"

Karkat let out a loud and dramatic groan, covering his ears and falling over sideways on the seat. He could still hear Terezi and Vriska laugh and he stayed in that position for the rest of the trip, even as the conversation finally moved onto a new topic.

"Well this just looks fucking perfect," Karkat said bitterly, staring at the crumbling building with peeling paint and the broken window on the second story. "This is totally the place. We'll totally get scouted here. If we don't fucking die first!"

"Would you shut it Karkat? We've checked the address three times, there is no way this is wrong. Who knows, maybe it's better on the inside."

"Something says that we should severely doubt that," Karkat muttered.

"I'll have to agree with Karkles on this one, this place smells disgusting," Terezi said, making a face at the building.

"Fine, don't come with but I'm going in, with or without you two," Vriska stated.

Karkat and Terezi had no choice to follow.

The inside prove to be almost worse than the outside. It was only expected but Vriska seemed frustrated. It only took less than thirty seconds without talking or seeing a single soul before they were all back out on the street.

"Fucking screw over," Vriska spat, pulling the paper from her pocket again and looking at the next address. "Next stop is on 5th, let's go," she said, stomping off to the car parked around the corner.

It was a short drive to the next venue and Karkat had to give some credit, this one seemed a little better than the first. The windows were broken at least. And it seemed a bit more legitimate if the neon sign reading Club Lulu, flickering and hanging at an angle, was anything to go by.

Terezi made a face but both she and Karkat somehow managed to keep their mouths shut this time around.

Vriska didn't hesitate this time, simply marched up to the door and pushed it open. Inside was much nicer than expected and ten times better than what the outside presented. The lighting was dim as they made their way down the hall but framed pictures and newspaper clippings lined a cleaned hall that told a history.

"Well, I'm impressed," Terezi said, stepping behind Vriska into a brightly lit and large room with tables spread across the floor, chairs turned upside down ontop of them and a stage taking up the entirety of the opposite wall.

"Not bad," Karkat stated brusquely, trying to hide just how impressed he was as well.

"Sorry but we're closed," came a voice from the stage.

"I'm aware. I'm Vriska Serket, with the band Earthbound. I contacted you earlier about possibly performing here."

A red-headed woman came out from behind the curtain and jumped down from the stage.

"Of course, I'm sorry I didn't recognise you. Is this the whole band then?" she asked.

"No, there are two more of us who couldn't make it today," Vriska explained.

"Oh, well I was hoping you could give me a little sample of your sound. I would like to hear you live if I'm going to put you on stage," the woman said with a small frown.

"I thought we could just discuss some terms and then I'll come back with the band and we'll see about performing," Vriska pressed.

The woman sighed. "Alright, look here. Come back on Thursday say around… 6 and we'll see about cutting you a deal. I don't talk terms until I know what I'm working with."

Vriska's expression flickered and twisted into an almost defiant smirk and Karkat feared that perhaps her violent side was going to show through, something she had gotten somewhat under control since coming to earth.

Much to his relief though, Terezi swung her arm around Vriska's shoulders, pulling the taller troll down slightly to her level and giving her usual grin, obviously unsettling the club owner and relaxing Vriska.

"Of course, we'll be happy to be here Thursday and you'll be begging for us by the end!" Terezi said.

The woman looked at them, her eyes flickering between the three. "Certainly." She looked back to Vriska. "You have my number, just give me a call if anything comes up. Now I have some business to attend to, so if you would excuse me…"

Vriska nodded with a smirk. "We'll see ourselves out."

"I swear if you two scared her off and we lost a perfectly good venue because you-" Karkat snapped once they were outside again.

Terezi cut him off with a slap to the back that was hard enough to cause him to stumble slightly. "Relax Karkat. We're fine," she said.

Karkat grumbled, not convinced in the slightest. Humans were just too easy to scare and many of them, even after years of integration and an almost constant flow of refugee trolls making home on Earth, weren't quite used to or comfortable with them yet.

Karkat's mind was still on this, he didn't notice that they were stopped outside the next venue until Vriksa turned off the car. Climbing out and following Vriska and Terezi to the front door, he barely spared the small truck parked next door a second glance.

That was until a certain troll with red-rectangular glasses came out carrying cases of alcohol, with a blonde human wearing dark, mirrored shades following close behind her.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Karkat said with a disbelieving huff and he froze half-way to the venue.

He hadn't realized how loud he had actually said it until Dave looked up from where he was pushing the crate of alcohol into the back of the truck and turned around.

Karkat could see the smirk instantly spread across his face as he instantly recognised the troll.

"Well if it isn't my favorite Kitkat," he called.

Karkat looked for Terezi and Vriska, hoping for a rescue, but they had already disappeared inside, not realizing he hadn't followed.

"I already told you that I'm not a fucking chocolate bar, but I guess your ignorant human brain might just have too much trouble processing such complicated information."

Dave only laughed and shrugged, his hands in his pockets as he strode over to Karkat. Oh god, _why_ was he coming over here? "Nah, it's just fun to watch you squirm. You get angry pretty easily you know."

"I don't get angry, I just happen to feel very strongly about certain subjects!" Karkat countered loudly.

"Like your name and other arbitrary topics," Dave replied.

"What are you even doing here," Karkat grumbled, watching over Dave's shoulder as Latula brought out another crate of alcohol.

"Picking up some booze. Cheaper to just pick this stuff up here than to have it shipped directly to the club so every month Tuls and I come and pick up a load to take back to the club with us," Dave explained.

"Right, and you just so happened to be doing such when we came to check out the bar that just happens to be right next door?" Karkat was refusing to believe his horrible and cursed luck.

Dave raised an eyebrow. An action visible even behind the shades. "Are you accusing me of stalking you Kitkat?" he asked another smirk flickering at the corner of his mouth. Even without seeing his eyes, Karkat could see the humor and amusement.

"And so what if I am?" Karkat snapped, refusing to give Dave the pleasure of a response to the ridiculous nickname that he was hating more every moment that it existed.

"You flatter yourself far too much," Dave replied. "Besides, you don't want to perform here." He nodded towards the club where Terezi and Vriska had disappeared moments earlier.

"And why the fuck not?" Karkat asked defiantly.

"The owner will screw you over. Big time. Had a couple bands play here before coming to Strides, and they all say the same thing. He promises you big, especially if you're a new band, and then he won't even pay you a third of what he promised and then he cuts your time down for performance with some excuse about needed time to clean the stage or some bullshit like that."

"Good thing it's not your choice then. Like I'm going to take the advice of some stupid human that won't even show me his fucking eyes."

Dave took a step back, hands sliding from his pockets and his expression serious. "Whoa man, don't diss the shades. They're cool."

"Yeah, maybe for douchebags."

Dave frowned. "You can insult me all you want Karkat, but you don't fucking diss the shades."

Karkat could tell he had hit a nerve. He opened his mouth to press further but Dave slid his hands back into his pockets.

"Whatever man, I gotta go, do what you want. Want to give me your number and maybe I can stop stalking you if I want to see you again."

"Fuck no I will not give you my phone number!" Karkat cried, slightly disgusted.

Dave laughed. "Good. I rather enjoy stalking you and having your number would be far to easy and not as much fun."

"Fuck of Dave."

"See you later Kitkat." Dave gave a small wave and turned back to head to the truck as Latula climbed into the passenger's seat.

Now Karkat was just in a bitter mood and he paced outside the club, mumbling curses at Dave until Vriska and Terezi finally came out.

"This is all your fucking fault!" Karkat hissed, pointing a finger at Vriska.

"Usually is, but what did I do this time?" Vriska asked.

"Arg! It doesn't fucking matter! Let's just go already!" He stomped back off to the car and climbed in the back seat, slamming the door and slumping low.

Vriska and Terezi gave each other rather baffled looks before shrugging and heading to the car as well.

"Tho, we fucked up with Club Lulu and Vriska won't even consider the rest the other three. All that's left is Jack-Nite. Any word from them?" Sollux asked, pocketing his phone and twirling the drum stick around his fingers.

"We didn't fuck it up," Vriska snapped, putting her bass guitar away carefully in its case. "It didn't go as well as planned but I talked to her and convinced her to give us another chance."

"You mean threatened," Karkat muttered bitterly.

"Who gives a shit how I did it? Besides, Jack-Nite is in the bag. They were happy enough with our recording and are willing to pay us more than any other club we've been to, including Strides and The Lost Pearl." The troll stood and turned to face the band. "We're scheduled to play in two weeks on Saturday."

"Yay!" Nepeta cheered jumping and throwing an excited fist into the air.

Karkat shifted uncomfortably.

"You seem nervous Karkles," Terezi said over his shoulder, startling him. Why did she have to be so damn creepy at times?

"No fucking way. You're seeing things again Terezi.

She frowned, giving him a small shove. "Don't be rude," she said, though not as biting as she had probably intended.

She walked off and Karkat was glad she hadn't pressed further because she was right. He was nervous. He hadn't told them about meeting Dave outside of the club. About his advise not to take gig at Jack-Nite, that they would only get screwed over. He should have told the other band members, but fuck Dave. There was no fucking way Karkat was going to believe that annoying asshole, he was probably only trying to screw him over anyways since he worked at Strides.

Okay, so it didn't make complete sense, but that still didn't change one fact.

Fuck. Dave.

"Great, well at leath we've got thomplathe," Sollux said, phone back in his hand again.

"Of course. God you guys, I haven't let you down yet. I always-" Some sort of sea chanty started playing from Vriska's back pocket and she frowned, pulling the phone free and glancing at the number before answering.

"Vriska Serket. Yeah. Sure. You're kidding. Of course. Thank you, we appreciate it. Sure thing, see you then." She hung up again, sliding her phone back into her pocket she looked back to the rest of her bandmates who were all staring at her expectantly.

A smug and almost wicked grin spread across her face, she pulled out an eight sided dice from her pocket and rolled it between her fingers. It was something she always seemed to have on her and Karkat had only seen her pull out when in three different moods, when she was bored, when she was nervous and now, when she was smug and confident.

"We've got another gig," she announced proudly.

"What, really?" Sollux asked with shock.

"Where?" Nepeta asked, leaning on her keyboard.

Vriska smirked, giving a moment for dramatic pause. "Strides invited us back."

As everyone celebrated their luck, Karkat was doing the the exact and absolute opposite.

April had been the longest month Dave Strider could have possibly lived through.

Ever since his brother had informed him that he had invited Earthbound back and they had agreed, Dave was looking forward to the third Friday of the month much more than he usually did.

When it finally rolled around Dave watched from the bar, sipping at some drink he didn't remember ordering and as Earthbound finished their set, he left the drink behind in favor of walking up to the stage as casually as possible. This of course, insisted of eager nudging and a quick pace as he struggle to press through the crowd before the band escaped out the back.

He could see Karkat off to the right of the stage, talking with the drummer, who, oddly enough, was wearing what looked to be a pair of those old fashioned red and blue 3D glasses, except in much more legit and comfortable wire frames.

Dave made to call out when a hand clamped on his shoulder, another on his face and something wet and slimey made a streak up his wet cheek, a something he quickly came to realize was a troll tongue.

"What the hell?!" he cried, pushing the troll away and wiping the slobber off with the back of his sleeve. He stared at the troll to blame for his discomfort, surprised to find the lead guitarist of Karkat's band grinning at him in a very pleased yet somewhat creepy fashion. And people thought the fact they couldn't see _his_ eyes was unsettling. They should come meet this chick sometime.

"They were right! You _do_ taste delicious, and you smell like… well it's hard to tell, you smell like this building, but it's a little bit like oranges," she said.

Dave stared at her in disbelief, only breifly catching the taller troll with long hair and glasses laughing behind her.

"Right…" Dave said, fixing his glasses that had gone slightly askew with the manhandling from the troll.

"Terezi Pyrope, nice to meet you," she said, holding out her hand to shake.

"Uh, Dave Strider, Pyrope you say?" he asked. He tentatively took her hand and shook it. Man she had a strong grip, it was impressive.

"Yeah, why?" she asked, dropping their hands and tilting her head slightly.

"Oh no reason, just… maybe you wanna check out the bar? The bartender is a badass," he said.

Her confusion quickly turned into an excited grin. "Yeah! I'll do that!" She turned towards the troll that had been laughing behind her a few moments earlier and called over her shoulder. "Hey Serket, wanna go get a few drinks with me?"

"Yeah, sure," Serket said with a shrug and moments later they had disappeared into the crowd.

Dave let out a sigh, feeling oddly like he had dodged a bullet of some kind.

He turned back to find Karkat standing alone now, looking a little annoyed. But that was only normal, at least from what Dave had seen of them.

The troll he had been talking to moments later passed by Dave, bumping into him as the next band started to play and a group of dancers began to move rather sporadically.

"Oh, thorry," he said.

A lisp, huh. Who would have guessed.

"No, it's fine, you guys were great up there, I'm glad you got to come back, you were definitely better than last month."

The troll paused and seemed to really see him for the first time. "Oh, tho you're the DJ."

"Yeah?" What was with these trolls and already seem to knowing him. He expected he was the last topic Karkat talked about, but here it seemed that the rest of the band already seemed to know of him.

"KK likes to complain about you. Don't feel too flattered, he complainth about moth thingth."

This didn't surprise Dave in the slightest. "Don't worry, feelings of flattery are at an all time low."

"Anywayth, it wath pretty nithe to have thith after our latht gig," the troll finally said.

"Oh yeah? What happened?"

The troll made a face, obviously not happy with the memories. "Totally got thcrewed over. They promithed a lot of money and barely paid uth shit."

"Wait, Jack-Nite's?" Dave asked.

The troll nodded.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Dave muttered to himself.

"What was that?"

Dave waved him off. "Nothing man, nice meeting you, but I'll have to catch up with you later. Got some business to attend to." His gaze was already locked on Karkat who was waiting impatiently by the back stage door.

"I can't believe you didn't fucking listen to me."

Karkat barely glanced at Dave, his yellow eyes scanning the dance floor. "And why the hell would I fucking listen to you?" he asked.

"Because I was right," Dave countered.

"Well good for you!" Karkat cried, finally turning to face the human.

"Admit it, you should have taken my advice and never taken the deal with Jack-Nite."

Karkat glared, "Not even in your dreams," he snapped.

Dave sighed. "Just sayin' man. Jack-Nite is bad news, especially for guys like you."

"Guys like us huh? What is that supposed to mean. Trolls? Just because we're aliens that means we're-"

"I was talking about new bands asshole," Dave said, cutting in before Karkat's ranting could get too carried away.

Karkat immediately shut his mouth and turned back to stare out over the club as Dave took up a place leaning against the wall next to him.

"So you talk about me, huh?" Dave asked.

"Don't fucking flatter yourself. It was never anything good. Not like there would be much to say even if I tried talking good about you."

Dave didn't even flinch. "So your friend told me."

"My friend?" Karkat asked.

Dave nodded. "Yeah the one with the 3D glasses and the lisp."

"Oh, Sollux, why were you talking to him?"

Dave couldn't decide if Karkat sounded curious or angry. Then again, he always seemed to sound angry so it was probably best to count that as a common factor in all conversation and go with curious.

"Literally bumped into the dude on my way over here to talk to you. Met that other friend of yours, Terezi? Yeah, that was… an interesting introduction."

Karkat seemed to go a little pale as he turned to look at Dave.

"Don't tell me she licked your face."

"She totally licked my face. All slobbery like, right here up the cheek. Then said I tasted delicious and smelled like oranges."

Karkat groaned. "She's a fucking embarrassment to us all," he bemoaned.

Dave shrugged. "Not as bad as you think. Not everyday you get surprised licked by a cute troll girl. Plus, she was with a band. Bonus points for Dave Strider."

"You can't tell me you actually liked it," Karkat said with disgust.

"Hell no. But if a lady comes up as hot as she is and part of a band on top of that, and she wants to lick your body parts, you don't fucking say no man. You don't fucking say no. Not that I had a choice this time around. Look, all I'm saying is I wouldn't mind her doing it again, just with a little more warning."

Karkat gagged. "Ugh. Gross."

"To each their own, Kitkat."

"You know she's blind."

"That would explain some things, but I fail to see how it matters."

"It shouldn't."

"Well it doesn't. Happy?"

"If you're interested in Terezi, like in the red quadrant, then maybe it does. But if you're just looking to get in her tight little troll pants, then it doesn't fucking matter at all because you don't need to be anywhere fucking near her."

"Oh, so you clearly hate me but now it's okay if I date one of your band mates?"

"Terezi is one of my best friends, one of the only people who has managed to deal with me this long. I just want her happy. That and if she's flushing for you, there's nothing I, or the universe, can do to stop her and her wrath is not something you want to be in the path of. It could destroy worlds."

"Got it. Don't piss of the blind troll chick."

Karkat rolled his eyes.

There was a moment of silence and Dave realized that the band was taking a moment before playing their last song. And just when he was actually having a decent conversation.

"Shit. I gotta get back to work, but will you wait for me? We can grab a couple drinks once I get off."

Karkat didn't answer and Dave didn't have time to wait for one. With a small huff he hoped that Karkat would take him up on his offer and dashed for the sound booth, just barely making it as the band's song ended. There was a breif moment of applause as Dave plugged in his headphones and took over the sound board from Harvey. As the applause died out he started up the electronic dance music once more and watched the crowd seemingly start to move at once.

Relaxing back into the music, Dave couldn't see where Karkat was sitting from the booth, but he could see the bar and keeping a close eye on that as Terezi who was in deep conversation with Latula, as Dave had expected. They did share the same last name after all, not a common thing for trolls. But eventually she left, lead for the door by her bass-player friend, Serket. Slowly, as the hours ticked away, the Dance floor drained of people and eventually Dave got distracted by his music and stopped watching the bar.

Just after 3 AM, Dave stepped up to the bar, ignoring the way his chest felt heavy when only Latula was there, washing down the counter.

"Hey Tuls," he said, yawning.

"Yo, D-Strides, just the one I wanted to see."

Dave glanced over at the corner by the backstage door. Any hope left was dashed when he found it empty. "Yeah?" he asked, distractedly. He felt something bump against his elbow and looked down to find a small slip of paper sitting on the counter.

"Terezi gave this to me earlier, thought you might want it. As a thank you," Latula said with a grin.

"A thank you for what?" Dave asked.

"For sending Terezi over here," she answered simply.

Dave nodded, now distracted by the paper in his hand. There was no name, just a set of seven numbers with a dash. Even without asking, without being told. He knew exactly what it was.

Maybe he still had a chance.


End file.
